Structures and phase transition of liquid crystals in a dynamic slit confinement

RF Zhang and X Wen, AIP ADVANCES, 10 (2020).

DOI: 10.1063/5.0009727

We report on the dynamic confinement of colloidal liquid crystals in a two-dimensional slit pore with a periodically stretching and contracting boundary using Langevin dynamics simulations. The influence of moving walls on phase behavior is analyzed, and four structures are identified. It is found that boundary vibration can induce phase transition. Structural transition characterized by the change in particle orientation is caused by varying the amplitude or frequency of the oscillating boundary. The key factor determined by the work performed on the system maintaining a steady structure is also clarified from the energy perspective. The inhomogeneous mobility of these far-from- equilibrium structures is induced by the active boundary. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the slit dynamic confinement system and suggest a new way of generating order by dissipating energy in non-equilibrium systems.

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